Idea of the day: using e-books to learn about learning

Amazon.com tells me that the Kindle is the hottest holiday gift this holiday season.  And not long ago, several law professors had a lively discussion of law e-textbooks on a prominent law blog.  It seems that, ready or not, widespread use of e-textbooks are just around the corner. To be sure, traditional paper textbooks will not [...]

Idea of the day: ditch standardized tests

Why do colleges and universities require millions of students each year to take standardized tests as part of their college applications?  The conventional rationale goes something like this: there is a vast quality difference in the nation’s high schools, so GPA alone may not accurately reflect the true ability of the students.  After all, an [...]

Idea of the day: forget acceptance rates

Acceptance rate is often perceived as an important indicator of a university’s quality.  In the U.S. News and World Report‘s college rankings, acceptance rate determines 10% of the student selectivity score for a university, which is 15% of the total score.  U.S. News also publishes a list of colleges with the lowest acceptance rates.  The [...]

Idea of the day: longer and more school days

The AP reports that the Obama administration is proposing a longer school year and longer school days.  Children in other nations, says Obama and the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, spend up to 30% more time in school.  America needs to align itself with the international norm. As someone who spent all of her elementary [...]